Using The Phrases ViewThe Phrases View allows you to quickly speak pre-defined sentences at the tap of a button. On first opening the Phrases view you are presented with a selection of categories, by tapping on one of the category buttons you will open the speech phrases for that category.
To begin speaking just tap on one of the content buttons that is now presented, to go back and select a different category simply tap the orange ‘Back to Categories’ button at the bottom of the page.The Phrases view categories and content are editable through the Settings tab.

Using Pocket Talk - Sentence BuilderThe sentence builder allows you to quickly build a sentence to speak. On first opening the Sentence Builder you will see a selection of categories with a toolbar and empty space below, this empty space is where your sentence is displayed as you build it.To begin building a sentence, tap on a category to open its content, tapping on a button for the content item you wish to add to the sentence will place its text into the sentence view at the bottom of the screen. You can return to the categories list by tapping on the Categories button in the toolbar.

By tapping in the sentence building area you can bring up the keyboard to type text as required, the keyboard can be easily dismissed when finished by tapping the keyboards done button.

Once you are happy with the sentence you have built you can begin speaking by tapping on the blue Speak Now button on the right of the toolbar, to clear the sentence and begin a new one just tap the Clear button on the left of the toolbar.

If you have enabled Sentence Builder to use recordings then only items with attached audio will be available to use for sentence building, all items with no attached audio will appear in red.

Using The Type To Talk ViewType to Talk allows you to enter any text you would like to speak with your device keyboard, to enter text just tap the blank area in the screen and the keyboard will show. You can now begin typing any text you wish to speak and tap the Speak Now button on the right of the toolbar when you are ready to begin speaking.If you need to hide the keyboard for any reason simply tap the keyboards Done button and the keyboard will be hidden from view, it can be restored again by tapping in the typing area.To clear the screen of any text just tap the Clear button on the left of the toolbar and you can begin typing with a clean canvas. The text area will automatically clear when you leave the Type to Talk view.

Setting Up Pocket TalkPocket Talk is made to be easily configurable through the Settings tab. Under Settings you can secure the view with a pin code, set the layout of the Phrases view, select from four primary voices, select from eight secondary voices and customise their speed, pitch and variation, add and edit content for the Phrases and Sentence Builder views, manage the built in image library, add and edit the audio recordings you have made and enable or disable the learning tools. If you enjoy using Pocket Talk you could also leave us a nice review on the iTunes App Store, you can even request a new feature or help if you are having trouble.

Changing The Phrases LayoutThere are two layouts available for the Phrases view, a multiple column folder layout and a single column list style with images to the left. To change the view style just slide the switch next to Phrases Use Folders, setting the switch to ON will enable the folder view, OFF will display the list view.

Protecting The Settings ViewTo prevent any accidental changes to Pocket Talks settings and content you can now set a pin code protection.To enable the pin code protection slide the switch next to Lock Settings to the ON position, you will then be prompted for a pin number and asked to confirm it, if your two pin numbers match the Settings view will now require the pin to be entered on opening the view again, you can set a timeout for the pin requirement to enable you to switch back and forth between views without needing to re-enter the pin code each time.To change your pin code tap, Change Pin Code, at the bottom of the Protect Settings section. You will be asked to enter your current pin code to remove the Settings protection.

Selecting The Online VoiceTwo voices are available in Pocket Talk with IOS 7, an online voice which requires an internet connection to process and an offline voice which does not need an internet connection as all processing is done on your device.To set the online voice just tap on it's row in the Voices section of Settings to open the voice selector, select a voice or disable the primary voice from the selection picker, test the voice if desired with the Test Voice button at the bottom of the view then save the voice for use with the Save button.

Selecting And Customising The Offline VoiceThe offline voice requires no internet connection to process and speak.To select an offline voice, tap on its row in the Voices section of the Settings view, this will open the voice selector and customisation screen. There are five pre-set voices to choose from for the offline voice, each of these can be adjusted for pitch, word duration and volume by using the sliders below the voice picker. When you have made adjustments to the selected voice you can quickly test the changes by tapping the Test Voice button, if you are happy with the changes you have made you can save them to be used each time the offline voice is required by tapping the Save button at the top right of the view.

Adding/Editing CategoriesTo add a new category in Phrases, first tap on 'Edit Phrase View Content' in the Settings view to open a list of the current categories, you can then tap on the plus in the top right corner of the screen to bring up the Add New Category view. Once the Add New view has opened, fill the Category Name field with a unique name for the category and set it's image by tapping on the blue button to open Pocket Talks image selector.To edit a category just tap its name in the categories list and select Edit Category. This will bring up the editing view for which you can enter a new, unique name for the category, change the categories image by tapping on the image button to show the image selector or delete the category and all its content by tapping the red Delete button.

Adding/Editing Category ContentTo begin adding or editing a categories content first select a category by tapping on it in the categories list then select Edit Content, this will bring the categories content into view.To add a new item to the selected category tap the plus button at the top right of the screen to bring up the Add New Item view.

1) Enter the text to speak in the text area.

2) Set an image for the new item by tapping on the blue button to bring up Pocket Talks image selector.

You can set an audio object for the item by tapping on the Set Audio button and selecting an existing recording or creating a new recording. If you would like to use text to speech processing you do not need to tap the Set Audio button as the item is set to use text to speech by default.To edit an existing item just tap on it in the content list to bring up the Edit Item view. You can now change the button text, image and audio used in the same way as you would add a new item, you can also delete the item by tapping the red Delete button.

Using The Image ManagerThe image manager is opened by tapping on Image Manager in the Settings view and displays all the images currently available in Pocket Talk, user added images in the top section and default images below.To add a new image tap on the plus button in the top right corner of the screen, you can then either import an image already on your device by tapping the Import From Device button or tap the Open Camera button to take a new photo.To delete individual images you do not want in Pocket Talk simply tap on the image and select Delete. If you would like to delete more than one image at a time, tap the Edit button in the top right of the screen, the images will begin to wobble, as you tap on an image it will be marked for deletion, once you have selected all the images you would like to delete tap the red Delete Images button at the bottom of the screen to remove the images from Pocket Talk.Accidentally deleted default images can be restored to Pocket Talk by tapping on the Edit button in the top right of the screen, you will then see two button appear at the bottom of the screen. Tapping on the Restore Default Images button will restore the default image content to Pocket Talk without making any changes to images you have added yourself, tapping on the Reset All Images button will restore all image content, this will also remove any images you have added to Pocket Talk.

Using The Audio ManagerThe audio manager is opened by tapping on Audio Manager in the Settings view, the audio manager displays all the recordings you have made and saved in Pocket Talk.By tapping on a recording you will be presented with four options:

1) Delete Recording * Deletes the recording from Pocket Talk and sets all phrase buttons using the recording back to text to speech

2) Re-Record Audio * Opens the recording view and allows you to overwrite the selected recording with new audio

3) Rename Recording * Opens the rename view allowing you to change the name of the recording, any phrase buttons using the audio file will be updated to use the renamed file

4) Play Recording * Listen to the recorded audio file

Making A New Recording To make a new recording tap on the plus button in the top right of the screen, this will open the audio recording view. If your device does not have a microphone you will be unable to create any recordings.

Follow the below steps to make a new recording.

1) Tap on the red Begin Recording button at the bottom of the screen to start recording, the button will turn green

2) Speak towards your devices microphone ensuring you do not shout and send the level meter into the red

3) When you have finished speaking, tap the green Stop Recording button

4) Play the audio back using the play button at the left of the bottom control bar

5) If you are happy with the recording, tap the blue Save button at the top right of the screen, enter a unique name for the recording then tap Save. If you are unhappy with the recording just start again from step 1.

Learning Tools – Word BreakdownThe Word Breakdown learning tool is a simple word learning help tool, if enabled you will be presented on speaking with the option to either Speak Normally or Speak Letters Then Words. If you choose Speak Letters Then Words each character of the word will be spoken individually before the whole word is spoken.